On inflation, Powell notes that tariff effects “are now clearly visible” and are expected to accumulate in the months ahead. The question for the Fed is whether those price increases will “materially raise the risk of an ongoing inflation problem." Powell said a one-time (but not "all at once") series of price increases seemed like a reasonable base case -- even more so if the labor market is not tight enough to support stronger wage bargaining for consumers who are losing purchasing power from any tariff pass-through. “Come what may, we will not allow a one-time increase in the price level to become an ongoing inflation problem."(Nick Timiraos)